I’m a guy. I wear makeup. So what?

For years people have awkwardly asked me “are you wearing makeup?” and the answer is – if my skin looks nice, yes I probably am.

You’re probably assuming guys wearing makeup is a gay thing.

Granted, I am gay, but you’d probably be surprised by just how many straight men wear some form of makeup.

It all stems from the same reasons men diet or go to the gym, vanity and confidence.

In a way, it’s much easier for girls who don’t feel confident au natural than it is for guys as it’s far more socially acceptable for a woman to noticeably be wearing makeup than it is for a man.

For me it all hails back to under-age drinking in parks. Alcohol would always make my face flare up bright red and my parents would always catch me drinking on school nights at the age of 14.

If gazing lovingly at an elephant wasn’t a give away my face sure was

My answer to this was to put on a full face of foundation- and it worked. Then I noticed that my skin looked really nice and it grew from there. Now my makeup collection rivals that of most girls.

This isn’t even all of it…

We’ve all wished to have the really obvious spot on our nose just disappear, and I can make it happen. So I do.

I also do a full face of highlighting and contouring. Before I continue, get the image of a drag queen from Ru Paul’s Drag Race out your mind (if you don’t know what that is, Google it and prepare yourself for a life changing experience).

So about halfway through my routine, my face does look a little something like this.

If my house caught fire at this point it probably just accept it and go down in flames with it

According to a recent study by CNBC, the number of men’s beauty products available increased by 70% between 2012-2014 which is hardly surprising when all we see in the media are flawlessly skinned, tanned and buff men. I promise you this, every single one of those men is wearing makeup.

In my opinion, the objectification of men and unrealistic beauty standards are just as real as they are for females. More and more of us are turning to cosmetics to enhance our appearances and more and more products are coming to the market targeted at male audiences.

The Yves Saint Laurent men’s touche éclat was the second most sold product from their cosmetic line second only to the female version, until they realised there was no point selling the same product in different packaging.

Brands like Lab Series, Clinique and Tom Ford all have products specifically for men. On top of that with Selfridges launching a line of gender-neutral clothing the definitions of the gender norms are starting to blur. We should celebrate that.

So here it is the before and after.

#nomakeupselfie #excusetheeyebrows

Now by no means am I saying go to these lengths but maybe next time when you’re headed to Letsdisko and you’ve got a feisty red spot on your face, watch a YouTube tutorial and get some slap on.